“#Throwbackthursdays Little Ian (Me) at 8 months old circa 1979. Who knew this little dude would get grow up to have millions of awesome friends around the world, work with Presidents and start The Ian Somerhalder Foundation-to leave This world better than when he came into it: Half naked in slippers and toting a blanket-not much has changed…” Ian captioned the Instagram photo of himself as a bright-eyed, curly-haired youngster. Could he have been any more adorable?

And, we doubt Little Ian would have been able to comprehend just how far-reaching his celebrity would become. Ian’s Facebook page just hit 10 million fans, an incredible number of people he can reach each day in his efforts to make the world a better place. In his celebratory Instagram post, he wrote: “10 MILLION FACEBOOK FRIENDS = 10 MILLION CATALYSTS FOR CHANGE +(10 MILLION solutions x your influence) +(10 MILLION projects x your social media family) +(10 MILLION causes x your followers) +(10 MILLION actions x your interactions) +(10 MILLION Rescues x your shares) +( MILLION votes x you network).”

The ability to affect positive change isn’t the only perk of being a celebrity — there’s also the opportunity to co-Grand Marshall parades. Last week, Ian was in New Orleans to take an active role in the Krewe of the Endymion parade through the French Quarter. What would Little Ian this of that? In a day-in-the-life blog Ian wrote for Esquire on the day of the parade, the actor spoke about how much the parade meant to him as a Louisiana native: “As a local Louisiana boy, to be given this honor of standing on that stage as Grand Marshal of my favorite Krewe and parade was without a doubt a dream. I mean, I went to my first Mardi Gras when I was one year old so here I was 34 years later, just thinking, ‘Wow, wow, wow!’”

Catch the next episode of The Vampire Diaries on Thursday, March 20 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

Kayti Burt is a contributing writer for Wetpaint Entertainment with a penchant for all things pop culture. Follow her on Twitter and Google+!